Finally, pictures of Tortellini :)
- Thread starter Dizzybird
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Yay it worked 
Tortellini is SO cute !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tortellini is SO cute !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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- Jul 28, 2008
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Tortellini is adorable - love the name, thanks for sharing.
oh thanks everyone.. he is a cutie and we are improving his living space week by week, adding extra things and trying out new ideas... so the enclosure is a continuing work in progress lol
i have found the slate is great for basking, he loves to sit there in the morning with his eyes closed all outstretched to warm up. I am thinking that the enclosure is not really deep enough, and i think i will change it in a bit to something with higher sides, i saw on this site someone had a large plastic box, which would be good for keeping clean etc, would you recommend a dark one or a clear one??
and we are improving his living space week by week, adding extra things and trying out new ideas... so the enclosure is a continuing work in progress loli have found the slate is great for basking, he loves to sit there in the morning with his eyes closed all outstretched to warm up. I am thinking that the enclosure is not really deep enough, and i think i will change it in a bit to something with higher sides, i saw on this site someone had a large plastic box, which would be good for keeping clean etc, would you recommend a dark one or a clear one??
Tortellini is adorable and his hide looks like a little log cabin built by Dali. Cute!
Dizzybird, around the holidays Wal-Mart sells 6 foot long plastic totes for Christmas trees. The sides are over 12 inche high. They are only one color clear but yet somewhat opaque. I have Greeks in two and they can't really see out. So it is not like an aquarium. They work great for inside enclosures and they are seasonal so they are only in the stores around the holidays. Or you can get him a Rubbermaid type tote with higher sides. Oh and I didn't even comment on what a handsome tort Tortellini is.
Yeah I just came back to check out the post again, and noticed the apples and cucumber. Apples are ok as a treat very rarely, and cucumber has not nutritional value, and lots of water in it. You can give cucumber as a treat too, but your little man should be eating a good spring mix, dandelion, escarole, endive, raddichio, and grasses and weeds Here is a fantastic thread Robyn set up, so you can find all sorts of grocery store greens, plants, flowers everything Tortellini can eat http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-5823.html
Here is a fantastic thread Robyn set up, so you can find all sorts of grocery store greens, plants, flowers everything Tortellini can eat http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-5823.htmlTortellini only gets his cucumber and apple as a treat, so rarely really, he does like apple when he gets it though, his staple diet at the mo is watercress, dandelion, rosepetals (home grown so no insecticides) endive radichio. He gets a good all round diet and loves his food. ty for the suggestions on his new enclosure, however i live in the uk and we have no walmart here, i have seen a fabby alternative in Asda however so i may purchase one of them.
I just found a 50 gallon tote that has quite the amount of floor space--must be 6 sq ft at least. Most of the under the bed or other shallow totes just don't have side high enough for substrate as deep as the tort plus cage furnishings and a Russian which likes to climb! Opaque is so much better than clear as you can eliminate them being able to see out. I would get the most floor space you can and not worry if the side seem too high. The contianer should be large enough to circulate the air, and with an open top this isn't so much of an issue. Also keeps the heat in better. Rubbermaid makes some great tote containers. They sell them here at home improvement stores and places like Walmart/Target.
If apple and cucumber are treats, how often do you feed them and how much? Does he just get the five items you listed besides that?
If apple and cucumber are treats, how often do you feed them and how much? Does he just get the five items you listed besides that?
Morning Kate,
i do try and provide tortellini with a varied diet, and i have a box in the garden where i am growing weeds lol !! he loves dandelions, but he gets his endive, radicchio, water cress, rose petals regularly, do you think this is enough? or should i be giving him other things? and where do i get other food stuffs from? He seems happy, and is very mobile and eats well. He has definately grown since i had him, i did notice on a piccie on this site someone was feeding theirs pelets, is that something i should consider? i do sprinkle his food with Nutrobal, but i am a very new tortoise owner and all advice is taken on board to make my tortoise happy and healthy
i do try and provide tortellini with a varied diet, and i have a box in the garden where i am growing weeds lol !! he loves dandelions, but he gets his endive, radicchio, water cress, rose petals regularly, do you think this is enough? or should i be giving him other things? and where do i get other food stuffs from? He seems happy, and is very mobile and eats well. He has definately grown since i had him, i did notice on a piccie on this site someone was feeding theirs pelets, is that something i should consider? i do sprinkle his food with Nutrobal, but i am a very new tortoise owner and all advice is taken on board to make my tortoise happy and healthy
If you have more foods available, I think more variety definitely wouldn't hurt. Most here do feed more variety than that. Even spring mix (without spinach) has that much variety (5-10 items depending on the brand), so if you add other things to it then that then it's great variety. The supermarket has spring mix at least. Also, you can look for the greens they list at russiantortoise.org. What weeds are you growing? What is in Nutrobal? I am cautious of any supplements as you can overdo them, especially if they are fat soluble and not water soluble vitamins. My personal belief is to feed a varied diet and then only use pure calcium, and Total Nutrition for Tortoises from Carolina Pet Supply as it is all natural (just ground up weeds) so you can't overdo it as you could a vitamin supplement.
Mazuri is a great tortoise chow to use a supplement also. I feed it rather infrequently as torts can become addicted to it, but it's great for emergencies (can't get out to get greens due to weather, etc) and as a supplement. You can buy a pound online and freeze it, then feed some once a week or whatever you choose. I think the Zoomed Grassland tortoise food is the only one I would ever consider that I've heard of besides Mazuri (although I have not yet used it). I look for natural ingredients that they would get in the wild. Tortoise chows really aren't great to be feeding often in my opinion, fresh is best. Up to you though. I think even for emergencies its great if they can have the taste for it. Definitely not necessary, but adds to the variety. I also will feed butternut squash or pumpkin every week or two, a little bit. If you can get a wide variety of weeds, greens, lettuces. flowers, tortoise chow, and squash, you'd be in great shape for Tortellini's diet! You are not doing bad though. I would not use radicchio as a dietary staple as of the low calcium to phosphors ratio. Watercress and dandelions should be limited as they are high in oxalic acid. Everything you listed is very good as part of a varied diet though. Make sure it's curly endive (the lettuce type) not Belgium endive (the yellow small leaf stuff). Just want to double check. Best wishes.
Mazuri is a great tortoise chow to use a supplement also. I feed it rather infrequently as torts can become addicted to it, but it's great for emergencies (can't get out to get greens due to weather, etc) and as a supplement. You can buy a pound online and freeze it, then feed some once a week or whatever you choose. I think the Zoomed Grassland tortoise food is the only one I would ever consider that I've heard of besides Mazuri (although I have not yet used it). I look for natural ingredients that they would get in the wild. Tortoise chows really aren't great to be feeding often in my opinion, fresh is best. Up to you though. I think even for emergencies its great if they can have the taste for it. Definitely not necessary, but adds to the variety. I also will feed butternut squash or pumpkin every week or two, a little bit. If you can get a wide variety of weeds, greens, lettuces. flowers, tortoise chow, and squash, you'd be in great shape for Tortellini's diet! You are not doing bad though. I would not use radicchio as a dietary staple as of the low calcium to phosphors ratio. Watercress and dandelions should be limited as they are high in oxalic acid. Everything you listed is very good as part of a varied diet though. Make sure it's curly endive (the lettuce type) not Belgium endive (the yellow small leaf stuff). Just want to double check. Best wishes.
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